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Palm Beach County tax bills for Trump property may top $1.19 million

Established more than two decades ago by President Donald Trump, the Mar-a-Lago Club is expected to generate $463,041 in 2017 property taxes, according to preliminary figures just released by Palm Beach County. Damon Higgins / Palm Beach Post

Posted: 8:52 a.m. Monday, August 21, 2017

The Mar-a-Lago Club, two golf courses and a pair of houses associated with President Donald Trump will likely generate more than $1.19 million in Palm Beach County property taxes for 2017, newly released estimates show.

In Palm Beach alone, the 17½-acre Mar-a-Lago Club will be billed an estimated $463,941, based on estimates prepared by the county property appraiser and tax collector.

Adjacent to Trump’s winter White House, two houses that the president bought in 1993 — plus a vacant parcel next door — will generate an additional $184,620, bringing his total estimated taxes in the town to $648,561.

At the Trump International Golf Course near West Palm Beach, only the clubhouse generates property tax revenue under a longtime lease agreement with the county and the Palm Beach International Airport. The clubhouse parcel there will likely be billed $141,728.

And the Trump National Golf Course in Jupiter is estimated to add $400,086 in property taxes to the county in the tax rolls that will be finalized in time for bills to be sent by Nov. 1.

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Notices of estimated values for all Palm Beach county property and the taxes they will likely generate are being mailed today by the county property appraiser’s office.

Final bills will reflect the rates set in September by governmental and other taxing authorities in the county. Property owners who disagree with the values assigned to their properties can negotiate directly with the appraiser’s office. But if the matter isn’t resolved, owners have until Sept. 15 to file an appeal with the state-authorized Value Adjustment Board.

Mar-a-Lago’s estimated taxes rise

For Palm Beach property owners, the tax rate is figured at $16.79 per every $1,000 of taxable value, which doesn’t include fees levied for solid-waste services by the town and county. The rate is the lowest of any other municipality in the county and also is lower than the county rate set for property in unincorporated areas, according to the property appraiser’s office.

Mar-a-Lago’s preliminary tax bill is $54,182 more this year than its final bill last year, the estimates show.

For the first time, the club’s bill will include an annual assessment of $28,869 on the club’s property to help pay for a multi-year project to bury utility lines in town.

The preliminary tax figures are based on Mar-a-Lago’s estimated “total market value” and “taxable value” of $23.1 million as of Jan. 1, up from $21 million last year, according to the data released today. That 10 percent increase places the club at the top of the list for county properties that saw a rise in estimated value since the 2016 tax rolls were computed.

Early this year, Trump transferred ownership of his houses immediately north of the club from his name to two limited liability companies.

Tax bills are likely to go down for those two houses and the adjacent vacant parcel on Woodbridge Road, immediately north of the private club. The larger house on a corner lot at 1094 S. Ocean Blvd. has a preliminary tax assessment of $143,972, down $2,995 from last year’s final bill. Its estimated taxable value is $8.43 million.

The estimated bill for the smaller house next door at 124 Woodbridge Road is $39,315, based on a taxable value of $2.3 million. Because the houses don’t carry a homestead exemption, their taxable values are the same as their total market values, records show. Mar-a-Lago also is not homesteaded in the tax rolls.

The fifth-of-an-acre vacant parcel, which wraps around the rear of 124 Woodbridge Road, is facing an estimated tax bill of $1,333, down $75 from last year.

Golf course revenue

During his visits to Palm Beach, the president frequently golfs at his Trump International Golf Club, which operates on 277 acres — with a total estimated land value of $17.7 million — leased at South Congress Avenue and Summit Boulevard near West Palm Beach. The club’s two courses includes 18 holes on 213 acres and a smaller course on 62 acres at the northwest end of the property.

Under the lease agreement, Trump’s ownership entity only pays taxes on the clubhouse he built in the center of the property on a 2.3-acre site. The clubhouse property is estimated to have a total market value of just under $9 million in the latest estimates, but only $7.5 million of that is taxable under state rules. Its estimated bill is $8,358 higher than last year’s.

Although the golf club’s property generates relatively little in taxes, it does provide rental income to county entities. The leases generate more than $900,000 a year. An annual payment of $570,686 benefits the Palm Beach International Airport, which controls the county land comprising the 18-hole course. The $351,600 in annual revenue from the lease of the land for the nine-hole course benefits the county’s general fund.

Trump bought his other county golf course — off Donald Ross Road — in 2012. The ownership company of the Trump National Golf Club owns about 183 acres. It is facing an estimated tax bill of $321,190 million for the clubhouse and another $78,896 million for the rest of the land, according to the 2017 estimates.

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